"According to the early Greek philosopher Empedocles all the change and movement in the universe, including all the processes of creation and destruction, stem ultimately from two great principles of attraction and repulsion. Clearly, form of any kind depends on its component parts holding together, just as its ultimate dissolution is a result of falling apart." So begins David Wade's Li: Dynamic Form in Nature, a key text in our present investigation of the ways in which Form, in nature, emerges from a balance of forces. This week, we will study the basic force of attraction, and learn about what happens when stuff gets stuck together.
This course is a brief, intense introduction to "generative form." In digital design, forms and images are often created not directly by hand but instead indirectly, by defining a mechanical process that is set in motion to create the final work.
The course will discuss some basic techniques used in this approach: randomness, segmentation, and level curves. The exercises we do will tend toward the abstract--we'll be exploring and playing with the techniques in their essences. But all of these topics also relate to practical challenges of information design.
Background image is composed of screenshots designed by Nick Sherman for Martin Wattenberg's course on Generative Form.
